Duke  University  Libraries 

Report. 
Conf  Pam  12mo  #257 


11 


mo 


#Z5j 


State   Convention — Ad.    Ses.]  [January,  1862. 

Presented  by  Mr.  Graham,  for  the  Committee. 
John  W.  Syme,  Printer  to  the  Convention. 


REPORT  OF  THE    COMMITTEE    ON    THE  LEGISLA 
TIVE    DEPARTMENT. 


The  Legislative  Committee  to  whom  was  referred  all  such 
parts  of  the  Constitution  as  relate  to  the  Legislative  Depart- 
ment of  the  Government,  and  sundry  ordinances  and  resolutions 
proposing  amendments  thereto,  have  considered  the  same  and 
report : 

That  the  result  of  their  labors  will  be  found  in  the  accompa- 
nying Ordinance,  which  they  recommend  to  the  adoption  of  the 
Convention  as  embodying  the  provisions  necessary  for  establish- 
ing and  regulating  the  Legislative  branch  of  the  Government. 

All  propositions  of  amendment  to  the  Constitution  which  have 
been  referred  to  them,  and  not  incorporated  in  said  Ordinance, 
have,  upon  full  consideration,  been  disapproved  by  a  majority 
of  the  Committee.  They,  therefore,  return  them  herewith  to 
the  Convention,  and  ask  to  be  discharged  from  their  further 
consideration. 

Respectfully  submitted, 

WILL.  A.  GRAHAM, 

Chairmati, 


■j.  Statr  Convention.  [Jan., 

AN  ORDINANCE  IN  RELATION    TO    THE  LEGISLA- 
TIVE DEPARTMENT  OF  THE  CONSTITUTION. 

Be  it  ordained  by  the  Delegates  of   the    people    of   North 

2  Carol'ma  in  Convention  assembled,  That  the  following  arti- 

3  cles,  sections  and  clauses,  shall  be,  and  are  hereby  adopted 

4  as  a  part  of  the   Constitution  of  North   Carolina,   and   :ir- 

5  ranged  therein  next  after  the  Declaration  of  Rights,  to  wit : 

ARTICLE. 

The  powers  of  Government  being  divided  into  three  dis- 

2  tinct  departments — the  Legislative,  Executive  and  Judicial — 

no  person  or  persons  belonging  to  or   constituting  any  one 

of  these  departments  shall  exercise   any  of  the  powers   per- 

o  taming  to  any  other,  except  as  herein  expressly  provided. 

ARTICLE. 

Every  white  male  citizen  of  this  State,  or  of  the   Confed- 

2  erate  States,  of  this  age  of  twenty-one  years,  who  shall  have 

3  been  domiciled  in  the  State  for  one  year  and  in  the  county 

4  in  which  he  claims  to  vote  six  months  next  before  the  elec- 

5  tion,  and  shall  have  paid  a  public  tax,  shall  be  entitled  to 

6  vote  for  members  of  the  General  Assembly,  and  for  all  offi- 

7  cers  that  now  are  or  may  be  elective  by  the  people  :    Pro- 

8  vided,    That  no  pauper,  idiot,  insane  person,  or  person  con- 

9  victed  of  an  infamous  crime,  unless  restored  by  law  to  the 

10  rights  of  citizenship,  shall  have  the  right  to  vote  :  And,  pro- 

11  vided  further,     That  no  person  in  the  Military,  Naval,  or 

12  Marine  service  of  the  Confederate  States,  shall  be  consid- 

13  ered  as  domiciled  in  this  State  by  reason  of  his  being  sta- 

14  tioned  within  the  same.      The  General  Assembly  may  also 

15  pass  laws  to  deprive  persons  of  the  right  of  suffrage  who 
1G  shall  have  been  convicted  of  bribery  in  elections.  No  free 
IT  negro,  free  mulatto,  or  free  person  of  mixed  blood,  descend- 


1862.]  State  Convention. 

18  cd  from  negro  ancestors  to  the  fourth    generation  inclusive. 

19  though  one   ancestor  of  each  generation   may  have  been  a 

20  white  person,  shall  vote  in  any  election. 

ARTICLE. 

Section  1.  The  Legislative  power   shall  be  vested  in  two 

2  distinct  branches,  both   dependent  on  the   people,  to  wit :  A 

3  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives,  which,  when    assem- 

4  bled,  shall  be  denominated  the  General  Assembly  of  North- 

5  Carolina. 

2.  The  Senate  shall  consist  of  fifty  members  chosen  by  bal- 

2  lot  and  in  districts  ;    which  districts  shall  be  laid  off  by  the 

3  General  Assembly  at  its  first   session    after   the   year    one 

4  thousand  eight  hundred  and  sixty-five,  and  every   ten  years 

5  thereafter  in  proportion   to^the    public  taxes|paid  into  the 

6  Treasury  of  the  State  by  the  citizens  thereof  and  the  aver- 

7  age  of  the  public  taxes, paid  by  each  county  into  the  Treas- 

8  ury    for  the  five  years  preceding  the  time  of  laying  off  the 

9  districts,  shall  be    considered   its   proportion  of  the  public 

10  taxes,  and  constitute  the  basis  of  apportionment:  Provided, 

11  That  no  county  shall  be  divided  in  the  formation  of  a  Scn- 

12  atorial  district.     Aad^when^ t\^^ono^mo\^  counties 

13  having  an  excess  otW^i^^aW  the  ratio  to  form  a  Sen- 

14  atorial  district,  adjoining  a  county   or   counties   deficient  in 

15  such  ratio,  such  excess  or  excesses  shall  bo  addecf  to   the 

16  taxes  of  the  county  or  counties    deficient;   and  if  with  such 

17  addition,  the  county  or  counties   receiving  it  shall  have  the 

1 8  requisite  ratio,  such  county  and   counties  each  shall  consti- 

19  tute  a  Senatorial  District. 

3.   The  House  of  Representatives  shall  consist  of  one  hun- 

2  dred  and  twenty  members  chosen  by  ballot,  in  counties   ac- 

3  cording  to  their  respective  members;  which  shall    be    deter- 

4  mined  V  adding  to  the  whole  number  of    free    persons   in- 

5  eluding    those    bound   to   service  for  "a  term  of  years,  and 
G  inckulLg.  Indians  not  taxed,  three-fifths  of  all  other  persons  : 


4  State  Convention.  [Jan., 

7  and  each  county  shall  have  at  least  one  member  of  the 

8  House  of  Representatives,  although  it  may  not  contain  the 

9  requisite  ratio  of  population.     This  apportionment  shall  be 

10  made  by  the  General  Assembly  at  the  times  and  periods 

11  hereinbefore  appointed  for  laying  off  Senatorial  Districts, 

12  and  upon  an  enumeration  of  the  inhabitants  of  the    State, 

13  which  may  be  ordered  by  law,  or  the  census  taken  under  the 

14  act  of  Congress  next  preceding   such    appointment.     And 

15  in  making  such  appointment,    the  ratio    of    representation 

16  shall  be  ascertained  by  dividing  the  whole  amount  of  rep- 

17  rescntative  numbers  of  the  State,  determined  as  aforesaid, 

18  after  deducting  that  comprehended  in  those  counties  which 

19  do  not  severally  contain  the  one  hundred  and  twentieth  part 

20  thereof — by  the  number  of  representatives  remaining  after 

21  deducting'the  number  assigned  to  the  said   counties.     To 

22  each  county  containing  the  said  ratio,  and  not  twice  the  said 

23  ratio,  there  shall  be  assigned    one  representative ;  to  each 

24  county  containing  twice  the  said  ratio  and  not  three  times  the 

25  said  ratio,  there  shall  be  assigned  two  representatives,  and 

26  so  on,   progressively ;    and    the   remaining   representatives 

27  shall  be  assigned  to  the  counties  having  the   largest  frac- 

28  tions. 

4.  Until  the  first  session  of  the  General  Assembly,  which 

2  shall   be  held  after  "the  year  one  thousand  eight  hundred 

3  and  sixty-five,  the  apportionment  of  Senators  and  members 

4  of  the  House  of  Representatives  respectively,  now  existing 

5  by  law,  is  adopted  and  continued  in  full  force,  with  a  change 

6  of  the  name  of  Commons  to  that  of  Representatives. 

5.  The  election  of  members  of  the  General  Assembly  shall 

2  be  biennial,  on  the  day  which  is  or  may  be  appointed  by 

3  law,  and  their  sessions  annual,  appointed  in  like  manner, 

4  except  when  convened  by  the  Governor,  in  pursuance  of  the 

5  authority  vested  in  him,  but  no  compensation  shall  be  allowed 

6  the  members  thereof  for  a  longer  term   than  forty-five  days 

7  at  any  one  session.' 


1862.]  State  Convention.  5 

6.  The  term  of  service  of  the  members  of  the  Senate  and 

2  House  of  Representatives  shall  commence  on  the  day  next  suc- 

3  cceding  the  day  of  their  general  election,  and  shall  continue 

4  until  the  day  next  succeeding  the  general  election  of  their 

5  successors. 

7.  No  person  shall  be  a  member  of  the   Senate  who  shall 

2  not  have  attained  the   age  of  twenty-five  years,  and  been 

3  domiciled  in  the   State   three  years,  and  in  the  district  for 

4  which  he  shall  be  chosen,  one  year  next  before  his  election, 

5  and  who  shall  not,  for  one  year,  have  possessed  and  continue 
(j  to  possess  a  freehold  estate  in  said  district  of  the  value  of 
7  one  thousand  dollars. 

8.  No  person  shall  be  a  member  of  the  House  of   Bepre- 

2  sentatives  who  shall  not  have  attained  the  age  of  twenty-one 

3  years,  and  shall  not  have  been   domiciled  in  the  State  two 

4  years,  and  in  the  county  for  which  he   shall  be  chosen,  one 

5  year  next  before  his  election,  and  shall  not,  for  one  year, 

6  have  possessed  and  continue  to  possess  a  freehold  estate  in 

7  said  county  of  the  value  of  five  hundred  dollars. 

9.  No  person  shall  be  eligible  as  a  member  of  either  House 

2  of  the  General  Assembly,  who  shall  not  be  entitled  to  the 

3  right  of  suffrage. 

10.  No  officer  of  the  regular  army  or  navy  in  the  service 

2  and  pay  of  the  Confederate  States,  or  of  this  or  any  other 

3  State,  nor  any  contractor  for  supplying  such  army  or  navy, 

4  shall  be  eligible  to  a  seat  in  the  Senate  or  House  of  Reprc- 

5  sentatives,  and  any  member  being  appointed  to  or  accepting 

6  such  office  or  contract,  shall  thereby  vacate  his  seat. 

11.  No  person   who  shall  have  been  a  Treasurer  of  the 

2  State,  nor  any  persons  who  shall  have  been  receivers  of  public 

3  monies,  in  the  past  or  future,  by  collection  or  for  disbursement, 

4  shall  be  eligible  to  a  seat  in  the  Senate  or  House  of  Repre- 

5  sentatives,  or  to  any  office  in  the  State,  until  he  shall  have 

6  fully  accounted  for  and  paid  into   the  Treasury  all  monies 

7  due.  from  or  held  by  him  belonging  to  the  Public  Treasury. 


}  State  Convention.  [Jan., 

12.  No  clergyman  or  preacher  of  the  gospel  of  any  denomi- 

2  nation  shall  be  eligible  to  a  seat  in  the  Senate  or  House  of 

3  Representatives  while  he  continues  in  the  exercise  of  the 

4  pastoral  function. 

13.  No  person  who  shall  hold  any  office  under  the  Confcde- 

2  rate  States,  or  under  this  or  any  other  State  or  Government, 

3  shall  be  eligible  to  a  seat  in  the  Senate  or  House  of  Repre- 

4  sentatives  or  shall  hold  or  exercise  any   other  office  under 

5  the  authority  of  this  State,  and  the   acceptance  of  any  of 

6  the  offices  aforesaid  by  any  officer  or  member  of  the  General 

7  Assembly  of  this  State,  shall  vacate  his  office  or  seat :  Pro- 

8  vided,  That  nothing  herein  contained  shall  extend  to  officers 

9  in  the  Militia  or  Justices  of  the  Peace. 

14.  No  President,  Cashier  or  Treasurer  of  any  corpora- 

2  tion  in  which  the  State  shall  be  a  stockholder  shall  be  cligi- 

3  ble  to  a  seat  in  the  Senate  or  House  of  Representatives. 

Section   2. 

1.  The  Senate,  when  assembled,  shall  have  power  to  choose 

2  a  President  to  preside  over  its  deliberations,  and  the  House 

3  of  Representatives,  when  assembled,  shall  have  power  to 

4  choose  a  Speaker,  and  each  of  said  houses  shall  choose  all 

5  its  other  officers,  except  such  as  it  may  direct  to  be  appointed 
o'  by  its  presiding  officer  or  clerk. 

2.  A  majority  of  each  house  shall   constitute  a  quorum  to 

2  do  business,  but  a  smaller  number  may  adjourn  from  day  to 

3  day,   and   compel    the    attendance  of   absent   members   in 

4  such  manner  as  is  or  may  be  provided  by  law,  or  the  rules  of 

5  each  house.     Each  house  may  sit  upon  its  own  adjournments, 

6  judge  of  the  qualifications,  elections  and  returns  of  its  mem- 

7  bers,  but  contested  elections  shall  be  determined  in  such 

8  manner  as  shall  be  directed  by  law. 

-  3.    Each  house  may  determine  the  rules  of  its  proceedings, 

2  punish  members  for  disorderly  behavior,  and  with  the  con- 

3  currence  of  two-thirds,  expel  a  member. 


1862.]  State  Convention.  T 

4.  Each  House  shall  keep  a  journal  of  its  proceedings  and 
2  from  time  to  time  publish  the  same,  and  the  yeas  and  nays 
B  of  the  members  of  either  House  shall,  at  the  desire  of  one- 

4  fifth  of  the  members  present,  be  entered  on  the  journal. — 

5  And  any  member  of  either  House  shall  have  liberty  to  (lis- 

6  sent  from  and  protest  against  any  act  or  resolution  which  he 

7  may  think  injurious  to  the  public  or  any  individual,  and  to 

8  have  the  reasons  of  his  dissent  entered  on  the  journal. 

5.  Neither  House,  during  the  session  of  the    General   As- 

2  sembly  shall,  without  the   consent  of  the  other,  adjourn  for 

3  more  than  three  days,  or  to  any  other  place  than  that  in 

4  which  the  two  Houses  may  be  sitting. 

6.  Each  House  may  issue  writs  of  election   for   supplying 

2  vacancies  of  its  members  occurring  and  becoming  known  to 

3  it  during  its  session,  and  all  other  vacancies  may  be  supplied 

4  upon  writs  issued  by  the  Governor,  under   such   regulations 

5  as  are  or  may  be  prescribed  by  law. 

7.  The  members  of  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representa- 
•2  tives  shall,  in  all  cases,  except  treason,  felony,  and  breach  of 

3  the  peace,  be  privileged  from  arrest  during  their  attendance 

4  at  the  session  of  their  respective  houses,  and  going  to  and 

5  returning  from  the  same,  and  for  any  speech  or  debate,  in 
G  either  House,  shall  not  be  questioned  in  any  other  place. 

8.  All  bills  shall  be  read  three  times  in  each  House  before 

2  they  pass  into  laws,  and  be  signed  by  the  presiding  officers 

3  of  both  Houses. 

9.  In  the  election  of  all  officers,  the  power  of  whose  ap- 

2  pointment   is  conferred   in    the  General  Assembly  by  this 

3  Constitution,  the  vote  shall  be  viva  voce.     In  all  elections  by 

4  the  people,  the  vote  shall  be  by  ballot. 

10.  Every  member  of  the  Senate  and  House  of  Represen- 

2  tatives,  before  taking  his  seat,  and  every   person    appointed 

3  to  any  office  in  the  State,  before  entering  upon  the  execu- 

4  tion  of  his  office,  shall   take  an  oath   of  allegiance  to  the 

5  State,  and  all  officers  shall  also  take  an  oath  of  office. 


8  State  Convention.  .  [Jan., 

Section  3. 

1.  The  General  Assembly  shall  have  power  to  pass  laws, 

2  to  regulate  the  militia,  and  the  mode  of  appointing  and  re- 

3  moving  militia  officers.     To  regulate    divorce    and    alimony 

4  generally,  but  not  to  grant  a  divorce  or  secure  alimony  in 

5  any  individual  case.     To  provide   by  general   laws  for  the 

6  alteration  of  the  name  of   any  person,   the   legitimation  of 

7  persons  not  born   in  lawful  wedlock,  and  to  restore  to  the 

8  rights  of  citizenship  persons  convicted  of  infamous  crimes, 

9  but  shall  pass  no  private  law  for  any  of  the  purposes  afore- 
10  said. 

2.  The  General  Assembly  shall  not  pass  any  private  law, 
2  unless  it  shall  be  made  to  appear  that  thirty  days  notice  of 
?>  the  application  to  pass  such  law  shall  have  been  given  under 

4  such  directions  and  in  such  manner  as  shall  be  provided  by 

5  law. 

3.  The  General  Assembly  shall  pass  no  act  appropriating 
2  public  monies,  exceeding  the  sum  of  five  hundred  dollars,  ex- 
8  cept  by  the  vote  of  a  majority  of  the  wThole  number  of  mem- 
4  bers  of  each  House. 

4.  The  General  Assembly  shall  pass  no  law  authorizing  a 

2  debt  or  debts  to  be  contracted  by  which  the  whole  public 

3  debt  of  the  State,  including  that  created  before  the  first  day 

4  of  March  last,  shall  be  made  to  exceed  twenty  millions  of 

5  dollars  of  principal  money :  Provided,  That  no  debt  au- 
5  thorized  and  incurred  in  the  existing  war  between  the  Con- 
0  federate  States  of  America  and  the  United  States  of  America, 

7  or  in  suppressing  insurrection  and  repelling  invasion,  shall 

8  be  estimated  in  the  amount  limited  as  aforesaid. 

5.  The  General  Assembly  shall,  by  a  joint  vote  *of  the 

2  two  houses,  elect  Judges  of  the  Supreme  and  Superior  Courts 

3  of  Law  and  Equity,  a  Secretary  of  State,  a  Treasurer,  an 

4  Auditor  or  Auditors  of  Public  Accounts,  and  Comptroller 

5  of  the  Treasury.      They  shall,  in  like   manner,   elect  an 

6  Attorney  General  and  Solicitors  for  the  State  in  the  several 


1862.]  State  Convention.  9 

7  Judicial  Circuits,  which  arc  or  may  be  established  by  law, 

8  except  that  assigned  to  the  Attorney  General. 

Section  4. 

1.  The  Governor,  Judges  of  the  Supreme  and  Superior 

2  Courts,  and  all  officeis,  the  power  of  whose  appointment  is 

3  conferred  on  the  General  Assembly  by  the  Constitution,  may 

4  be  impeached  for  violating  any  article  of  this  Constitution, 

5  mal-administration  or  corruption. 

2.  Judgment,  in   cases  of  impeachment,  shall  not  extend 

2  further  than  to  removal  from  office  and  disqualification  to 

3  hold  and  enjoy  any  office  whatever  under  this  State,  but  the 

4  party  convicted  may,  nevertheless,  be  liable  to  indictment, 

5  trial,  judgment  and  punishment,  according  to  law. 

3.  The  House  of  Representatives  shall  have  the  sole  power 

2  of  impeachment.     The  Senate  shall  have  the  sole  power  to 

3  try  all  impeachments.     When  sitting  for  this  purpose  they 

4  shall  be  on  oath  or  affirmation.     When  the  Governor  may 

5  be  on  trial,  the  Chief  Justice  shall  preside,  and  no  person 
0  shall  be  convicted  without  the  concurrence  of  two-thirds  of 
7  the  Senators  present. 

Section  5. 

1.   Any  Judge   of  the  Supreme  or  Superior  Court  may  be 

2  removed  from  office  for  mental  or  physical  inability  upon  a 

3  concurrent  resolution  of  two-thirds  of  each  house  of  the  Gen- 

4  eral  Assembly.     But  the  Judge  against  whom  such  proceed- 

5  ing  is  about  to  be  taken  shall  be  entitled  to  receive  notice 
G  thereof,  accompanied  by  a  copy  of  the  causes  alleged  for  his 

7  removal,  twenty  days  before  either  house  shall  act  thereon, 

8  and  to  be  heard  in   person  or  by    counsel,   before  the  vote 

9  shall  be  taken. 

2 


10  State  Convention.  [Jan.,  1862. 

Section  6j 

1.   The  General  Assembly  shall  not  establish  any  one  reli- 

2  gious  church  or  denomination  in  this  State  in  preference  to 

3  any  other,  neither  shall  any  person,  on  any  pretence  what- 

4  soever,  be  compelled  to  attend  any  place  of  worship  contrary 

5  to  his  own  faith  or  judgment,  nor  be  obliged  to  pay  for  the 

6  purchase  of  any  glebe  or  the  building  of  any  house  of  wor- 

7  ship,  or  for  the  maintenance  of  any  minister  or  ministry, 

8  contrary  to  what  he  believes  right,  or  has  voluntarily  and 

1  personally  engaged  to  perform,  but  all  persons  shall  be  at 

10  liberty  to  exercise  their  own  mode  of  worship:  Provided, 

11  That  nothing  herein  contained  shall  be  construed  to  exempt 

12  preachers  of  treasonable  or  seditious  discourses  from  legal 

13  trial  and  punishment. 

Section   7. 

No  person  who  shall  deny  the  being  of  God,  or  the  divine 

2  authority  of  both  the  Old  and  New  Testament,  or  who  shall 

3  hold  religious  opinions  incompatible  with  the  freedom  and 

4  safety  of  the  State,  shall  be  capable  of  holding  any  office  or 

5  place  of  trust  or  profit  in  the  civil  department  of  this  State. 

Section  8. 

Treason  against  the  State  of  North  Carolina  shall  consist 

2  only  in  levying  Avar  against  her,  or  in  adhering  to  her  enemies, 

3  giving  them  aid  and  comfort.     No  person  shall  be  convicted 

4  of  treason,  unless  on  the  testimony  of  two  witnesses  to  the 

5  same  overt  act,  or  confession  in  open  court. 


Hollinger  Corp. 
PH8.5 


